The invention is concerned with an apparatus for cleaning surfaces, particularly floors by wet cleaning.
Machinery for wet cleaning of floors is known. Such devices generally have a motor which actuates a horizontal disc which has a vertical axis of rotation. The disc is provided with brushes or other abrasive means. A stationary or rotatable ring circumferentially encloses the disc and constitutes a closed area which is connected on one hand to a reservoir or container for the cleaning liquid and on the other hand to a reservoir for recovery of the used liquids.
The ring is provided with one or a multiplicity of flexible or elastic seals which are in contact with the surface to be cleaned. The seals enclose the cleaning disc to delineate the surface to be cleaned and to prevent the splashing of the cleaning liquid outside the area being cleaned.
The closed area so formed as described is subjected to a vacuum caused by a turbine which draws its suction from the cleaning liquid reservoir or container to insure the return of the cleaning liquids to this container.
In the devices so known from the prior art, it has been found advantageous in order to obtain a better hermeticity or waterproofness to rotate the circular ring which circumferentially surrounds the cleaning disc.
To achieve this objective, the circular ring and the disc are rotatably connected and are concentrically positioned with respect to one another. It has been shown that this arrangement offers certain shortcomings and drawbacks particularly the following:
During the forward and backward displacement of the device and when the machine is laterally displaced with respect to the surface to be cleaned, there occurs a change in the seat of the cleaning means which then is not any longer parallel to the said surface to be cleaned. This modification has adverse effects on the circular ring and on the flexible annular skirts which then causes leaks of the liquid when the seals are no longer in contact with the place of the surface to be cleaned, even if this occurs only on a small proportion of their circumference. It has also been noted that the seals associated with the ring wear to a different degree than the brushes or abrasive material of the cleaning disc. Accordingly, when the machine is new, the seals associated with the ring are inadequately in contact with the surface to be cleaned, whereas in contrast, these seals are squashed or deformed when and as the machine gets older. The waterproofness is therefore insured for only a short time of the use of such a cleaning device, especially only when the height of the machine provides the seals with the elasticity and coefficient of friction corresponding to a normal cleaning opeation of a surface.